2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3, Part C

Introduction: Nigeria is blessed with dense vegetation and a myriad of medicinal plants which can be harnessed for the treatment of various ailments. There has been evidence of organ toxicity following prolonged intake of plant-derived drugs, hence this study evaluated the safety profile of ethanolic leaf extracts of B. ferruginea and L. uniflorus, used for the management of malaria.

Methodology: In phase 1 of acute toxicity, 12 male Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups of 4 rats each, treated with 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg b. wt of the extracts and observed for the first 4 hours, then 7 days for signs of toxicity. In phase 2, higher doses of 1600, 2900 and 5000 mg/kg b. wt of both extracts were administered to another 3 groups of 4 fresh rats and monitored as in phase 1. In sub-acute toxicity, 28 male Wistar rats were divided into 7 groups of 4 rats each and treated for 14 days. Hematological parameters analyzed include hemoglobin, packed cell volume, mean corpuscular heamoglobin, red blood cell count, white blood cell counts, neutrophils, and lymphocytes. Liver function enzymes- alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and other biochemical parameters were accessed while liver sections were examined.

Results: No behavioural changes and mortality were recorded after administration of the stated doses. There were no significant (p? 0.05) differences between the serum biochemical and hematological parameters of treated and control animals. Relative organ weights (ROW) of treated animals did not differ significantly (p? 0.05) from control group and there were no remarkable histological changes in the liver sections of treated animals compared with control.

Conclusion: Since the extracts did not induce any chronic toxicity on the experimental animals, this study therefore justified the continuous use of these plants in the management of malaria.